


Catharsis

by Heavenly_Bodies



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sexual Harassment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3402242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heavenly_Bodies/pseuds/Heavenly_Bodies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something happens during Bones’ shift at the hospital that leaves him furious and shaken. When Jim finds out, it leads to revelations and eventually a catharsis of sorts.</p>
<p>NB: This deals with sexual harassment and non-consensual advances. There is NO rape/non-con on or off screen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catharsis

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, I wrote this purely as an attempt to make myself feel better after a situation in the same vein happened to me. I guess you could say it really was a catharsis for me.

It was times like these that Bones missed the old heavy doors of his childhood home. There was nothing quite as satisfying as the jarring earth-shaking rattle of a slammed door. Something you’d never get with the automated doors of his dorm room, and today the gentle swoosh of it sliding closed grated like nails on an old fashioned chalkboard. Still, he managed to stomp into the room and toss his bag as if it had personally offended him at the sofa, ignoring the Jim shaped lump stretched out and most likely asleep on it. His shoes followed suit as he stripped his medical uniform off on his way to the bathroom. _God damned intern. God damned handsy, self-righteous, entitled, little shit._ Bones didn’t even bother closing the bathroom door as he turned the water on hard and began to wash his face and gargle the almost too hot water.

“Bad day at the office?” Jim asked from the doorway.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Bones replied, spitting the water from his mouth and grabbing his toothbrush. He didn’t want to talk about large hands trying to manoeuvre his face, or lips that left scorching marks along his cheek when he refused to be moved. He didn’t want to talk about how such a simple act had left his stomach queasy and tied in knots even now, though it was slowly easing.

Jim’s brow furrowed, normally when Bones came in like this he was only too glad to rant and curse up a storm until whatever had upset him got out of his system and they could spend the rest of the evening indulging in Bones’ stash of good bourbon. “Bones?” he asked cautiously as he stepped into the small room. “What happened?”

Bones scowled at Jim from the mirror, the effect should’ve been muted by the toothbrush and foam in his mouth, but the heat in his eyes was fierce enough to out glare the otherwise incongruous image.

“Hey, man, come on. Talk to me.”

It was the concern in Jim’s voice that finally won out over the nauseated feeling in his stomach demanding that he push everything and everyone as far away as possible. Deflating, Bones rinsed his mouth and his toothbrush and turned to face his best-friend. “Remember I told you about that new intern?”

Jim nodded. “Arden, wasn’t it?” 

“Yeah, that’s him. Thinks he’s God’s gift to women, men, aliens, Hell, probably sentient plants and tentacle monsters, too. Makes you look tame.”

Jim chuckled and smiled. “I don’t know if I should be offended by that.”

“Don’t be. You at least have charm and actually treat your partners with respect. And you know the meaning of the word ‘no’.”

A feeling of dread began to pool in the pit of Jim’s stomach, and it was his turn to have daggers burning in his eyes. “What. Did. He. DO?” He ground out through clench teeth.

“I took care of it,” Bones promised. Somehow Jim’s vehemence seemed to quell his own anger, or at least knocked it down to a manageable level. Sometimes, Bones forgot what it was like to have someone unconditionally in your corner when push came to shove.

Jim was barely registering Bones’ words and change in demeanour, his mind too busy racing with the idea that someone had dared to _touch_ without Bones’ consent. “Are you okay? Don’t lie to me about this,” he all but begged, knowing full-well that Bones would only ever lie to him for his own wellbeing.

“Jim, the asshole tried to kiss me and didn’t wanna take no for an answer, that’s as far as it went. Not that that wasn’t far enough,” he added sardonically. “Why are you getting so riled up by this? I was the one he pulled that shit on.”

Jim grit his teeth and swallowed for an entirely different reason, but he made himself breathe. “Because he _touched_ you,” he growled.

“Of all the asinine-”

Jim held a hand up. “Please, Bones, just listen. I know you of all people don’t need me standing up for you, that’s not what this is about. I want, I _need_ for you to understand that.”

Reluctantly, Bones nodded. “Go on.”

Huffing out a breath, Jim ran his hand through his hair and started pacing the small bathroom. This was not the way he’d hoped to confess his feelings. Jim had always assumed if he ever did tell Bones there would be copious amounts of alcohol involved and the possibility of forgetting what was said the night before when the morning came. But Hell, this was him and Bones, when did anything with them ever go the easy way. “I… It’s bad enough when something like that happens. It hits harder when it’s someone you know. It’s almost unbearable when it’s someone you care about and,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “love.” He shrugged. “Guess it brings out a protective streak.”

“Goes with your saviour complex,” Bones commented wryly.

For a few moments they stood in silence each letting the others presence sooth them. 

“Did you mean it?”

Raising his head, Jim’s eyes lit up- he knew that tone, it was one of disbelief rather than rejection. “Yeah, I did. Problem?”

Bones scoffed a gravelly chuckle. “I’ll say there’s a damn problem- you’re way the Hell over there.”

Jim’s smile practically broke his face and he didn’t waste any time taking the small steps that allowed their lips met in a sweet, lingering kiss. 

“You do realize,” Jim began breathlessly when they parted, “this means I reserve the right to hunt this Arden guy down and kill him.”

Bones snickered, shaking his head, a smile painting his face. “Possessive, too, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

\---

Two weeks later, Jim was waiting outside of the hospital for Bones to get off shift, when a man walked out of the side entrance. 

He was a little over average height, well-built, with perfectly styled jet black hair and he strut, actually strut, when he moved. And he was moving straight towards Jim. Ignoring Jim’s personal space, the man crowded up next to him and looked him up and down with a proprietary gleam in his dark eyes. “Waiting long?”

“Mmm,” Jim answered non-committally.

“I wouldn’t dare keep a thing like you waiting,” the man leered.

Jim’s blood ran cold, he knew, just _knew_ this sleaze was Arden. He could barely stand the idea of this creep touching his Bones- he could say that now, Bones was his as much as he was Bones’. Unfortunately, after much coercion, Jim had promised Bones he wouldn’t kill, maim, or otherwise do anything that could get him suspended or expelled from the Academy. “For one thing, I’m not a ‘thing’. More importantly some people are worth waiting for.”

“Waiting is an excuse for people who are too afraid to take what they want.”

“You always take what you want then?”

He pressed up against Jim as he purred sickeningly into Jim’s ear, “Damn right, I do.”

Jim smiled. “Not today.”

The man barely had a chance to catch the words before he was spun around and a heavy fist slammed into his face.

“What the fuck? McCoy?”

Bones’ eyes burned as he seethed. “Back off, Arden, before one of us reports your ass.”

Arden wiped his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand. “Hey, you’re the one who attacked me!”

“Yeah, I did,” Bones agreed. “You’re right, when I saw you trying to force your attentions on my boyfriend, not three weeks since you’d tried to force them on me, I punched you. You should just be glad I didn’t let Jim do it.”

Coming up behind Bones, Jim wrapped his arms around him, chuckling, “My hero.”

“You enjoyed that,” Bones declared once they were out of earshot and headed home.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Jim answered with faux innocence.

Bones just shook his head and leaned in for a kiss. “Thank you.”


End file.
